Christmas Festivities

What a fun filled week....but oh so busy. Hopefully I can remember all of our events. I'm glad I have a second to post a little bit about our week. Chris has taken these two weeks off so we've had lots of family time.

This week has been FULL of lots of snow. I'll have to do another post of pictures of just all the snow at our home. The night before Christmas Eve I told Chris that I'd like to spend the night at my parents so we don't have to drive that morning. Yes, on a good day we are only 45 minutes from my parents but I really didn't want to make the drive on Christmas morning. Chris gets hotel points when he travels & he'll be switching hotels he stays at & had a few random points he'd be losing so he called the hotel & told them he didn't have enough points but was wondering if they'd comp the rest since they are empty over Christmas. After several phone calls back & forth they called back & said not only would they comp us the points but they'd give us the suite. So Christmas Eve we went swimming at the hotel for a couple of hours as we waited for family to get into town. The boys still wanted to keep swimming so we filled up the hot tub in our room & put Landon in his floaty & Jaden swam around as we got ready to go to the family party at my Grandma Hendricks home. We had a delicious dinner with great company:) & then the little kids did the nativity. All my pages are lacking in pictures because I videotaped everything & struggled to keep up on both. I was a little disappointed when I saw how few of pictures I had. Jaden & Landon were wisemen & I was an angel (still playing the same part that I've played since I was a little girl). The kids also got their Christmas PJ's & we've struggled ever since to get Jaden to take his off. He wanted to wear them to church today. I told my mom that she better not get Jaden fun PJ's anymore...just some plain boring ones:)

I must say I was grateful we didn't go home Christmas eve night because it snowed & snowed & snowed & we wouldn't have made it back. As a matter of fact my brother Jeff got trapped at his girlfriends family's home in Blackfoot & finally got plowed out the day after Christmas. That's not fun when you planned to stay for only a couple of hours on Christmas Eve & they had so much family that there wasn't a bed for him to sleep in. Ok...on to our Christmas. That morning we went to my parents house so that the kids could open their presents with their cousins. Jaden was in Heaven; especially since he's been eyeing these presents for the whole month. The biggest present we got for Jaden was a motorized jeep & he wasn't that excited. We have that on video tape & don't have a picture. His favorite part of it is fixing it with the tool set we got him for Christmas. I think he'll find a lot more enjoyment when he can drive it outside. We had a yummy lunch with my dads prime rib & lots of other great foods. Jaden & Wyatt played & played & played & they are finally best friends & didn't fight a bit. They shared their toys & had so much fun. Landon just took it all in but he had fun notheless.

Friday we also did a bunch of family things & were going to play in all the snow but ran out of time. The girls did dinner without kids & we included my grandma Hendricks. I love my grandma so much & am amazed at her strength & happiness after losing a spouse in August & having knee surgery at the beginning of December.

Yesterday the guys went ice fishing. My dad bought all the grandkids ice fishing poles for Christmas. It was freezing outside but Chris said Jaden didn't seem to notice & enjoyed throwing snow in everyones hole. Sorry those of you who were the recipients of my sons snow! They also had a snow hill at the pond & him & Wyatt enjoyed that too...this is according to Chris. They didn't catch anything (thankfully they never do) but they also didn't stay long because of the blowing snow. We headed home early for fear of getting snowed at my parents home. We had promised Jaden games in Rexburg so we compromised & took him in Idaho Falls. We went to Leo's Place & it cheered him up that we cut the day short with Wyatt.

Are you tired of me talking about this??

Ok, so I have another post about the economy. I'm sure many of you are tired of hearing about the cause & effect of this whole mess. I just wanted to share a story that Chris called & told me about today. First I want to mention that I hope we can all LEARN from some of the things happening & learn to be frugal & save & stay out of debt. I hope this doesn't imply that Chris & I are perfect because we have a LONG way to go but we are slowly inching in the right direction.

To start this story out I'll kind of explain our neighborhood. We are fortunate to live in a really nice part of town. In this part of town all the neighborhoods run into each other & the only way to tell the difference is by the house. We drive by some beauties just getting onto the main road. I'll quickly mention that our home & our small little neighborhood is very modest & that when I talk about some of these homes that ours doesn't even compare. Ok so to my story....

We've been watching the most amazing home go up in our neighborhood. We can't recall ever seeing a home this amazing, especially on a lot that wasn't super huge. We've always wondered who was building this home & what they do. These past couple of months we noticed that there wasn't any progress on the home. The outside is all done plus all the extra building but there were a few loose wires & other things that just weren't getting done. Today Chris found out the story. The would-be owner of this home was a stock broker & only worked with clients that put down a minimum of 1 million dollars. Well apparently this whole finacial mess forced him to go belly up. Guess how much this home is valued at....11 million dollars & in Idaho that is a BIG house. The master bath alone is valued at 80 thousand dollars. Apparently the window people came to try to get their windows back & because they've been bricked in they can't retrieve them. So who owns this home now??? The bank; I'm not sure which one but our tax dollars will probably have to bail out the bank that gave this loan.

I guess the moral of my story is simplest is best. Who needs a home like this. It's stunning to drive by & it will probably raise my property value (or maybe not if it doesn't sale:)) but those are just things. Hopefully this Christmas we can enjoy the spirit of the holidays & enjoy being close to family and friends.

Simplicity

Does anyone else sometimes find the simplest things the most enjoyable? Last night we had planned to go out & enjoy a bunch of holiday festivities but it changed with the weather & a lack of desire of driving on the roads. On my way home I realized that I had forgetten the pizza that I've been promising Jaden ALL week. He's been wanting pizza for sometime & I decided to leave it as our Saturday slurge...as I walked through the door I prayed he'd forget & that I could excite him with his new snow pants. Earlier I had him try on his old ones to discover that not only did he need new boots but snow pants too. No such luck; not wanting to venture back out I told him we'd make some. I first attempted to cheat & hoped that I had some pre-made dough in the freezer. No such luck so we broke out the kitchen aid and all the ingredients. As we let the dough rise I told Jaden that we should try out his new snow pants & shovel the driveway.

So outside we went & it was a blast. Jaden really did manage to shovel some of the snow up. He even started working on the road which I quickly encouraged him to work on the driveway since I was making little progress. An awesome neighbor came through with there 4-wheeler & did all the sidewalks which was important since we got a letter from the city stating that the driveway was our responsibility & all the liability that goes with it.

We went back inside to finish our pizza with our favorite toppings of pineapple, onions, & green peppers. It was delicous & landon even gobbled some up too. After Jaden turned on the Christmas music & asked us all to dance. I started that about 3 weeks ago & now he makes us all do it all the time:) Then the boys piled on daddy.

By this time the snow let up & we went Christmas light looking. Ah....there were some beauties. It gets my mind ticking for next Christmas. We did simple on our outside this year. I did get up on the roof to put up our wreath & I've got to admit that I'm terrified to take it down with all this snow.

A year in review....

So I realized as I've recieved Christmas cards that I should have probably sent a note about what we've been and are up to this past year with our Christmas Cards. I had decided that since I had included the blog address that everyone could go & read for themselves BUT I think it will be easier to jot down a couple of items to help everyone catch up.

First, as I went through our address list of friends & family it brought so many memories to mind & made my heart ache for those we miss. Our year was full of highs & lows and we are so grateful for our many blessings.

The biggest highlight of our year would have to be the birth of our precious little one, Landon. Landon was born on February 9th of this year weighing 8 lbs & was 20 inches long. After several scares along the way for his health he came out PERFECT & he was a perfect little baby....as he's gotten older not as much:) He was a good sleeper & is my little cuddler. I love it.

Our 2nd highlight of the year would be getting in a house again. Apartment living did not suite us well at all & were very excited to get in our home in July after months & months of house hunting. We lost out on the first home of our choice to another buyer but are very happy where we are at & love our neighborhood.

Here's an update on each of us:

Chris works for Yellow Book as an Account Executive...that's what brought us back to Idaho. He's had a very successful year & we have felt very blessed with all of the opportunities that have come our way. Chris has also turned into a gym rat. He goes almost twice a day without fail & it shows. I was very motivated until mid-november & got lost in the holidays. That's what New Year Resolutions are for, right? Chris does some traveling with work but we try to go with him occasionaly when it fits in everyones schedule.

I currently stay at home with the boys and am figuring out how to be a stay-at-home mom. I've taken up a lot of hobbies & just adore my two crazy boys. Occassionaly I miss the demand of a stressful job but Chris constantly informs me that we are starting our own business & that I will be running it...anyone have any business plans we can steal:) He still encourages me to this day to go to law school but I think that's just a standing joke between us since I can win any argument.

Jaden turned 3 in June & goes to preschool every morning. He absolutely loves it & I'm seeing him grow up right before my eyes. He takes that school bus & consequently he loves all buses & gets excited when he sees them. He is a wonderful big brother & he loves Landon so much. When he gets home from school Landon is always taking a nap & the first thing he asks is always where Landon is. At the beginning of this year Jaden seemed to kind of go into his shell a little bit, I think all the changes made him a little bit overwelmed, but moving & getting settled was the magic potion & he makes friends with everyone he meets. Everyone is his friend & he loves to tell them that.

Landon is our sweet little baby & is turning into a babbler. He loves to say mama & dada & is so proud of himself. He dances to any kind of music & I can get him really excited when I dance & flail my hands in the air. He crawls at lightning speed & gets into everything.

We made lots of fun memories this year as a family & create many traditions...that's where you may have to read the blog:)

This year has been one that has been rough on our whole country & I hope we can all pray for our leaders to make decisions that will benefit the people of this country.
In Romans 8: 38-39 it reads...
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I encourage you all to stay close to the savior when times are tough & when they are going great. I think there are some tough times ahead in our country but we will get through them.

We are so grateful for each of you & wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. May you be blessed.

Love the Murphy's

Simply the Cutest!!!

So I've decided that Landon is simply the cutest baby!!! This last month as we fattened him up and I've got to say these past 3 days he has simply plumped up & I don't think he'd be called a skinny baby...probably average. My theory is that I give him a lot more bottles than I did nursing him simply for the fact that nursing him required my time where as a bottle is a temporary babysitter. We are still working on his system adjusting but it slowly is getting a little back to normal. I don't expect it to totally be like it was before because breast fed babies tend to poop less.

So I'm daring to share a story that just might make me look like an even worse mom. Why I'm so honest on my blog, I don't know. I probably should suger-coat this story but I won't:)

So it's late in the afternoon & I'm picking up the house & notice that Jaden has left the door to the basement open. Wanting to teach him the importance of closing the door so that Landon won't fall down the stairs I holler at him to come & close the door. I did this about 4 times & then it totall slipped my mind as I moved on with my house cleaning. I'm filling my water bottle to go to the gym (I think my mind was filled with the fact that I did not want to go; I haven't wanted to go this whole month for that matter) & I heard Jaden call out. I was still filling my water bottle when it clicked that Jaden never shut the door & I couldn't see Landon anywhere. I start crying as I run towards the stairs to find that Jaden had caught Landon two steps from the top. He'd seen him tetering at the top & ran to his rescue. Jaden was holding Landon with all his might & had him press against the stairs. Jaden's body was shaking in fear & I grabbed both boys & hugged them like crazy. Of course I thanked Jaden for saving his brother but also reminded him firmly that he MUST close the door or else Landon can get really hurt. Now Jaden locks Landon in every room for fear he'll fall down the stairs. Poor Landon can't get around to well:)

An Alarming Sunday

Today in Sacrament meeting Jaden needed to go potty. This happens about every Sunday so Chris took him out. They were taking a while & I really want Jaden to sit in Sacrament meeting even if he doesn't like it so I went out to find them. Jaden was playing with a couple of little boys & I told him it was time to come back in....thank goodness I did.

About 5 minutes later something happened that I've never seen before. Suddenly there was a LOUD noise & blinking lights. I then realize that it's the fire alarm. Everyone starts looking around & doesn't know what to do. We were in the middle of singing the closing song so they keep leading & playing the music but it was so loud and we couldn't hear anything. After a couple of minutes the bishop gets up & starts to talk but we can't hear what he's saying but I notice a few people start leaving the chapel so we follow their lead. In the hall we find out it was Jaden's little friend he was playing with 5 minutes earlier & I know Jaden would have helped commit the deed if he were still out in the hall. It took a good 10 minutes for the alarm to get turned off...I think the police had to come & do it.

Needless to say it definatly made for an interesting Sunday.

On Friday we went to our ward Christmas party & it was great! They go all out...dinner was catered & so delicious. They even had professional pictures being taken with Santa; I don't have mine yet. Jaden had so much fun seeing all his little friends & of course Santa & he got a really great goodie bag from Santa too. Landon played with one of the little girls in my class that absolutely adores him. Isabella (Britt, she's a triplet of your teacher from grade school Mrs. Patterson) hung out with me the whole time & would have me come & show her mom how Jaden snuggles with her. It was really cute.

{grumblings}

So I'm going to grumble for a moment & post about the less luxerious side of being a mom.

Last week Landon starting having blowouts...yuck!!! This has never been a problem nor was it with Jaden so we thought it was probably the thanksgiving feast that he participated in so I expected it to last for a day or two. As the days continued so did the blowouts & they came more frequently & with more advengence. So then I'm thinking that maybe he has a bug but he seems to feel fine & is in happy spirits. So these last two days I have about lost my mind. He's averaging 4 a day & all of them are going up with back & all over the place...4 baths a day & 4 clothing changes & 4 times that I have to immerse my hand in poop to clean his clothes by hand before throwing them in the wash.

BUT here's the worst part. He seems to poop half way through his naps & they wake him up & he won't go back to sleep. Landon still isn't sleeping through the night so I've started to do the tough love CRY IT OUT. I can't do this anymore for fear that he's pooped & that it's getting all over his crib. His bedding can only handle so much. So when he cried at 5 am this morning I went to his bedroom & grabbed him to feed him (all in the dark)& didn't think a whole lot about it until I felt something gooey all over my arm. His poop is odorless & I didn't realize that he did it again....ahhhhhhhh. We rush to the bathtub as I toss him in fully clothed & I wash my arm over & over & over & still am paranoid I have poop on me.

Landon was a once a day pooper, maybe twice but hardly ever. As we analyze what this problem may be we think it may be the increase in formula that the Dr. encouraged. I've decreased how much a nurse Landon over these last two weeks & time wise it fits. And to top it off, I think he's gotten even skinnier from all the pooping. What do ya do??? I can't handle another poopy diaper! The joys of motherhood.

Jaden's Journey

So Jaden's school officially began today. I was having horror dreams last night because I was so worried about him. Yesterday we took him to his school to walk around & I pointed through the window into his classroom so he'd know where he was going today. We also let him play on the toys & told him that he'd get to have a recess while he was there. He was so excited that he went to bed at 8pm but didn't fall to sleep until 11pm. I worried he might be a little crank this morning but he woke up happy & excited & got dressed & brushed his teeth without any problems. The school bus picks him up at 7:20am so it's an early morning but they do breakfast at the school so all I have to worry about is getting him dressed. Jaden hopped right on the bus & wasn't scared at all. He came home in good spirits & enjoyed talking about his day.

While he was gone Landon & I hit the double coupon sale at Kmart. We ended up leaving one bag there on accident so we went back & shopped again after I pulled more coupons from the internet. The sale goes through the 6th & if you plan it right you can come away with some really good deals....I even scored a couple of free items.

Jaden will be attending school everyday so it will be an adjustment but I do think I'll get more accomplished. I've never been a coupon shopper & I think that's something I'll be able to do without Jaden distracting me at the stores.